Illinois man found guilty but mentally ill after stabbing 93-year-old mother to death

DUPAGE COUNTY, Ill. (TCD) -- A judge found a 69-year-old man guilty but mentally ill for fatally stabbing his 93-year-old mother in the kitchen of their shared home in 2019.

DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin announced April 12 that the judgement was delivered against Edward Mitzelfeld following a weeklong bench trial that ended on March 22. Mitzelfeld was initially charged with five counts of first-degree murder for killing his mother, 93-year-old Frances Kelly, on May 31, 2019. Mitzelfeld never posted his $5 million bond and remained in custody since his arrest.

According to the state's attorney's office, on May 29, 2019, shortly after 5:20 p.m., Bartlett Police Department officers responded to Mitzelfeld and Kelly's home, where they found him "in the front yard of the house with his hands raised." Officers entered the residence and located Kelly's body on the kitchen floor surrounded by blood.

Investigators determined Mitzelfeld attacked Kelly with a kitchen knife, stabbing her multiple times in the back. The state's attorney's office said the knife "severed her aorta and entered her lungs." Mitzelfeld called 911 after the incident.

"This is a tragic case that has surely taken a tremendous toll on Frances’ and Edward’s entire family," Berlin said.

Mitzelfeld will be sentenced at a later date.

According to her obituary, Kelly, who was a great-grandmother, was remembered as an "avid card and cribbage player."

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